FakeFlam

Saw the Cadets in person this evening. Loved hearing the kids play-- hated the narrative crap. I wonder if they'll ever resent being subject to the whims of this design obsession?

At home 2 miles from Milton High School and the weather is dicey. Heavy downpour with thunder and lightning 10 minutes ago which seems to have given way to a light drizzle presently. Fingers crossed.

There's no stopping it now, I'm afraid. As feared, legalizing amps was just a foot in the door. Maybe it will finally become "so not drum corps" that the pendulum can finally swing back the other way.

I've read about the narration off and on for many months but 'saw' it for myself for the first time last night. I now understand completely why so many fans are turned off by it. The kids who join Cadets know what they're getting themselves into design-wise. If they're cool with Hop's vision of the activity, so be it. That said, I'm glad that Blue Devils won. A win for Cadets would have been more validation for their design approach than I could stomach.

I can appreciate most years, but 1983 - 1993 is without question the sweet spot for me.

While I won't take anything from today's shows or performers, I think there was something special and unique going on during the 'Golden Era' of DCI. More than anything, the sense I got was that corps was absolutely comfortable being a niche, non-conformist artform. No special desire to attract / woo music majors, woodwinds, or HS band directors. No need to recreate a symphony orchestra on the football field -- just flat out, high demand technique, musicianship and entertainment. At some point, the focus become much more intensely oriented towards the designers. Some like it better, some not as much.

A bit of trivia: Gibson actually selected Uillean (Irish) pipes for the soundtrack of Braveheart rather than Great Highland Bagpipes which are more closely associated with Scotland.

Wedges, eh? Interesting...

Glad to have a big show in Atlanta, but not a fan of dome acoustics.

Rumor has it that DCI will be marketing Parking Lot DVDs in the near future, so I don't expect they'll be any more receptive to home grown footage.

I like it a lot as a positioning statement. After watching the ESPN2 broadcast, there's no better time for DCA to unapologetically state that they are different by choice. Bravo.

1985 Blue Devils -- thanks to them I developed a lifelong love of drum corps and Pat Matheny's music!

Maybe it was Phantom's ill-advised cymbal ride. j/k I really enjoyed both shows and wouldn't have been surprised had the scores been reversed.

As much as I personally enjoy playing traditional grip, I'm really excited to see how SCV does with this. Will they still do 'the chicken wing' with the right arm and have an asymmetrical matched grip or will they strive for total uniformity? I've always believed that Tom Float's early 80s lines killed the matched grip movement -- it will be very interesting to see if Gusseck's lines revitalize things...

Not much market for non free-floaters these days, but good luck.

There's no reason for a snare side head to blow out after two days unless it was defective or mistreated. Unless you're pressed for time, bring the tension up over the course of a few days and give it a chance to settle in. And batter heads do not belong on the snare side -- you want the bottom head to resonate.

Traditional on set is no big obstacle -- you just would tend to set the toms a bit flatter -- have a peek at Stewart Copeland's drums -- speed, finesse, and power -- all while hampered by the 'inferior' grip. ;-)

Real masters of the instrument can use matched (American, German, French variations), traditional, reverse traditional, double traditional etc. at will. There are legitimate uses for all of these approaches depending on the aural or visual effect you're going for. Case in point -- Billy Cobham or for a more recent example, have a look at Tyler Dempsey's solo Rodent Tomfoolery.

All kosher terms -- you might hear 'gock' as well. But spock seems to be the preferred term these days overall I'd say.

All drummers have to work their weaker hands harder to approach ambidexterity -- don't make special exceptions for your lefties. If the writing is varied in sticking and pattern there may well be some patterns that are naturally easier for them to pull off on the conventional setup.

A lot of people do prefer the wider tone of a Mylar head. When the snares were more of a lead voice in the activity, (1980 Spirit is a great example IMHO) the more full-bodied sound seemed ideal. From a later time, consider a show like 1991 Crossmen -- I can't fathom those guys playing on Kevlar -- mylar just afforded such an aggressive approach and sound quality. The higher tensions made possible by the combination of Kevlar and free-floating snares did produce a markedly different sound, and did lead to some significant grip changes. Some believe that these changes have had an adverse effect on the level of demand attempted such as fewer singles, 32nd note rolls, intricate flam work. (I'm not sure I totally buy this as the typical pipe band grip is even 'looser' than DCI and there's no absence of complex rudiments in that genre.) Instead, the activity was changing to more rewards for visual design and less for traditional percussion exposure, demand, and execution. It's the change in the judging system that changed the writing approach -- that Kevlar came on the scene concurrently is largely coincidental in my opinion.

The lot is where you see most of the ram today. The exercises, sprees and 'parking lot etudes' are oftentimes way more interesting / challenging than the books that are written for the field. For the hardcore lot junkie, high quality DVD lot footage would be a welcome addition to the library.

Cadets used to do that as well, though I don't remember the specifics.

Adding another percussion judge without increasing the overall size of the caption score is further, unwarranted dilution.

Let's see how many more ways we can devalue the battery in this activity.